While on Sunday night officials referred to the energy platform that exploded in Lake Pontchartrain near Kenner as an oil platform, authorities on Monday referred to natural gas being stored on the platform as well. Meanwhile, four of the injured workers had been discharged from local hospitals on Monday; one remained in a New Orleans intensive care unit in critical condition; and two had been taken to Baton Rouge General Hospital’s burn unit, and indication their wounds are severe.
Officials said the missing crew member was 44-year-old Timothy Morrison, of Katy, Texas. Those who were rescued were identified as Alvin Kembrel, Lawrence Dufrene, James Bordelon, Devin Billiot, Brent Neil, Paul Pfister and Cody Boudreaux.
Bordelon was recovering from surgery at University Medical Center. Dufrene and Kembrel were eventually sent to Baton Rouge General Hospital’s burn unit due to the severity of their injuries. Billiot, Neil, Pfister and Boudreaux were all treated and released.
Original story
Officials were prepared to search through the night Sunday for one person reported missing following an oil platform explosion in Lake Pontchartrain northwest of Kenner that sent seven others to the hospital.Five of the wounded were taken to New Orleans’ University Medical Center in critical condition for treatment of blast and burn injuries, with the remaining two going to East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie in stable condition, according to authorities.
There were reports that the blast could be heard and felt in homes as far away as St. James Parish.
Officials said the massive explosion may have occurred after cleaning chemicals on the platform ignited during some kind of maintenance operation.
They said it’s also possible oil was leaking into the lake from the platform, which is used to transfer material from a number of wells in lake waters that are considered part of unincorporated Jefferson Parish.
But officials emphasized that the lake is much shallower than the waters surrounding the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, setting off a disastrous oil spill. They were hopeful that the shallowness of the lake would facilitate cleanup, though they acknowledged that winds associated with an approaching cold front could affect the cleanup or search efforts.